I came across these marvelous sweet potato snacks at a stall that recurs at Isetan's food fairs. I've seen this stall at both Shaw Centre and Westgate.
Sweet Potato Blocks
First, let's start with the most basic of them - blocks of yellow and purple sweet potato pastes.
These seemed pretty pure... I'd believe the chef if (s)he said that *only* sweet potato was used, and nothing else. Basically, the purple sweet potato block had more of an earthy sweet potato taste, while the yellow sweet potato block was lighter, sweeter and smoother. While both had just as much of a rich sweet potato flavour, I preferred the purple one... I guess the earthy flavour added more depth to it, which I liked.
Both these blocks were slightly dry though, and it was a little difficult to eat more than one mouthful without some water or tea to wash it down. I sometimes felt the bolus of sweet potato mass taking a longer time to travel down my oesophagus. In short, wonderful flavour, but a tad dry. A lovely, pure and simple snack, but not a favourite of mine.
Sweet Potato Custard Balls
I guess the Japanese would probably classify these as another type of dumpling. Anyway, these sweet potato balls were stuffed with custard. Presumably, they used the same sweet potato paste for the ball itself, but I'm not sure if they added anything, because I thought there was a slight difference, as I'll explain later.
As with the blocks, there was a similar difference in flavours between the purple and yellow sweet potato tastes.
The main difference was the rich and creamy custard filling, which made the sweet potato even more buttery in flavour. It blended well with the yellow sweet potato, and complemented the purple one by enhancing the buttery dimension of the sweet potato flavour.
More importantly, these balls were much moister... whether it's due to the custard or the different processing of the sweet potato, I don't know. But this was probably my favourite snack out of the three.
Baked Mashed Sweet Potato
This was basically mashed yellow sweet potato on a disc of oblique transverse section of the same. I'm not sure if they added anything like butter or oil to the mashed sweet potato, but the surface does seem to gleam, like there was a glazing. I doubt that baking alone would produce such an effect.
As with the others, the sweet potato flavour was strong. I couldn't tell if there was butter or any other ingredient added in though.
There was also a faint baked taste... I guess it wasn't browned enough for any strong caramelised or charred flavour, so I was a little disappointed. Perhaps they should have let it get more brown, to distinguish it from the other sweet potato products.
Texture-wise, it was moist enough, not dry like the blocks.
I felt that the slice of sweet potato at the bottom was just as a support for the mound of mashed sweet potato, rather than to actually contribute to the gastronomical experience. Other than the purple skin, which did add some fibrous texture I suppose, it didn't set itself apart from the rest of mashed topping.
I'd recommend you at least try the balls and the baked mashed sweet potato. I'd probably buy it again from time to time, but probably not regularly, because they're a tad expensive - $2.50 per block or ball, and I think the baked mash was about double the price each.
Still, the high price is probably understandable because a lot of meticulous labour probably went into the preparation of these treats, as is typical of Japanese culture. At least, the blocks look very precisely-cut, and the balls and baked mashed sweet potato look hand-made... they have the typical smoothed bumps of a hand-molded ball/mound. And despite that, the custard filling also looks very neatly packed in.
First, let's start with the most basic of them - blocks of yellow and purple sweet potato pastes.
Both these blocks were slightly dry though, and it was a little difficult to eat more than one mouthful without some water or tea to wash it down. I sometimes felt the bolus of sweet potato mass taking a longer time to travel down my oesophagus. In short, wonderful flavour, but a tad dry. A lovely, pure and simple snack, but not a favourite of mine.
Sweet Potato Custard Balls
I guess the Japanese would probably classify these as another type of dumpling. Anyway, these sweet potato balls were stuffed with custard. Presumably, they used the same sweet potato paste for the ball itself, but I'm not sure if they added anything, because I thought there was a slight difference, as I'll explain later.
The main difference was the rich and creamy custard filling, which made the sweet potato even more buttery in flavour. It blended well with the yellow sweet potato, and complemented the purple one by enhancing the buttery dimension of the sweet potato flavour.
Baked Mashed Sweet Potato
There was also a faint baked taste... I guess it wasn't browned enough for any strong caramelised or charred flavour, so I was a little disappointed. Perhaps they should have let it get more brown, to distinguish it from the other sweet potato products.
Texture-wise, it was moist enough, not dry like the blocks.
I felt that the slice of sweet potato at the bottom was just as a support for the mound of mashed sweet potato, rather than to actually contribute to the gastronomical experience. Other than the purple skin, which did add some fibrous texture I suppose, it didn't set itself apart from the rest of mashed topping.
~~~
Overall, I also loved how vibrant the yellow and purple colours were, even though they're completely natural. Purple and yellow are also on opposite ends of the colour wheel, so the contrast just enhances the visual effect that much more. It's so nice to try both colours side by side.I'd recommend you at least try the balls and the baked mashed sweet potato. I'd probably buy it again from time to time, but probably not regularly, because they're a tad expensive - $2.50 per block or ball, and I think the baked mash was about double the price each.
Still, the high price is probably understandable because a lot of meticulous labour probably went into the preparation of these treats, as is typical of Japanese culture. At least, the blocks look very precisely-cut, and the balls and baked mashed sweet potato look hand-made... they have the typical smoothed bumps of a hand-molded ball/mound. And despite that, the custard filling also looks very neatly packed in.
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